


Bromantic Tension

by Jumpyrope



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Idfk what to put as the title lmao, Jealousy, M/M, or so they think, unrequited feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-25 19:53:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12043080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jumpyrope/pseuds/Jumpyrope
Summary: Ryuji had just gotten used to the great boost of being the center of Akira's attention, but now that it's gone, it'll still be fine. He can deal with it, because after all, he's been alone before. While his relationship with Akira feels less close than before, but it was still the closest he's ever felt to anyone. So he can deal with it.





	Bromantic Tension

**Author's Note:**

> I found an old souyo fic where Yosuke got real upset at the idea of souji dating someone cuz he wanted him, and they ended up getting together. So of course I immediately thought of akiryu. as always, enjoy

Since the beginning of this school year, since the founding of the Phantom Thieves, since the dawn of freaking time as far as Ryuji was concerned, it was just the two of them. Ryuji and Akira, the inseparable troublemakers, the rumor mill celebrities of Shujin High. Ryuji thought it would always be that way. Even as Ann joined, even after Yusuke too, the bond between the two friends was stronger than any hardship. 

Ryuji likes being the center of attention, likes being Akira's best friend. He thought as long as they both existed, they would be shoulder to shoulder the whole way. Akira would hang out with him more than any of his past friends ever did, he spent time with him just to talk or even just sit together doing nothing. He would sacrifice studies to hang out with Ryuji, which was actually pretty huge considering how Akira's life balanced on his grade being at least passing. Likewise, Ryuji would sacrifice slacking time to study with Akira. He thought things would stay this way forever. 

The Phantom Thieves were gaining popularity after dealing with Kaneshiro, and the new member was really awesome. Ryuji likes Makoto, she was badass and kinda cute at the same time. Plus, she made up for the smarts that the group was lacking, especially on Ryuji's side. She also scares the crap outa him when she goes full Queen and demands her authority. _And_ she can ride her persona because it's a _mother freaking motorcycle_? Hot. 

It shouldn't have been a surprise that Akira fell for her. It was obvious, their feelings for each other. Anyone could see it. The way she clung to his arm in the dark, asked him to go out with her to "broaden her mind," smiled at his occasional dry humor. He obviously felt the same, doing everything she asked and taking her out just because he wanted to. Sure, he said it was just because he wanted to get to know her better as a teammate, but Ryuji wasn't buying it. 

The pain in Ryuji's chest was equally obvious; he felt jealous of the attention she was getting. But Ryuji could deal with it, it was fine. Akira was better off studying with someone who could actually help him learn anyway. He was happy for the two of them. She didn't just vent and complain while hanging out or only talk about girls until it got annoying or be too loud or be too touchy or- or- 

She just wasn't Ryuji, and that was for the best. 

It's hard to admit that he wasn't his best friend's best friend anymore, and harder to to accept it. Ryuji was strong though, or at least he tells himself that. He could handle it, and he would continue to do everything he can to make his friend happy. So, he texted less and waited around in the hallway after school less. He made himself scarcer so that Akira would feel obligated to pay attention to him less. 

Otherwise, he continued life as usual. Being a Phantom Thief, being a halfway- err, more like quarter-way decent student, and being everyone's favorite joke. Cuz that's what he's good for, right? He can hit shadows really hard so long as he doesn't miss and he can take the punches no matter how they're thrown or what they are. He's been called worse than what his friends call him, laughed at far more for far less by other people too. Nothin' he can't handle. 

Ryuji silently bears this torture, hiding his hurt from even himself, until one day he was forced to stop ignoring it. 

It was just another boring day of school. Summer vacation was over and the Hawaii trip was kind of a let down. The air in the classroom was hot, and the sun was beating down harshly outside the window. _We'll probably be going to Mementos today,_ Ryuji thinks while ignoring class. Just because he had to be a good boy doesn't mean he can't be bad, if that makes any sense. Whatever. 

Ryuji couldn't stand waiting for the bell to ring, so he excuses himself to the bathroom in the least disruptive way possible, and of course the teacher has to go and make a fuss about it. He just tried to walk out quietly so the teacher wouldn't have to pause class to answer Ryuji's request. But no, it wasn't good to just leave, wasn't proper. Rude apparently to try and sneak out without permission. After a brief lecture that took way too long, he manages his escape. 

It isn't uncommon for Ryuji to find himself in the empty bathroom during class, leaning against a sink and staring into his reflection. His eyes look tired. With a sigh, he turns on the faucet but instead of splashing his face with the cool water, he just lets his hand weave in and out of the stream slowly, spacing out. The water feels nice in his fingers. Soothing. Ryuji closes his eyes and holds both hands under the water, mindlessly moving back and forth between them. 

The bell rings for the end of class, breaking Ryuji from his trance, and he then splashes the water on his face like he planned to originally do, reveling in how the water cooled his hot skin. He dries off and heads out, going back to his classroom to get his stuff, finding Akira standing there and staring at the classroom. The boy looks surprised to see Ryuji coming from down the hall instead of from the room, but soon gives it up and walks over. Ryuji feels like this was going to be a not fun conversation as Akira leads him up the stairs to the rooftop silently. 

"So uh, hey bro. What'd'ya want with me?" Ryuji asks with feigned ease. Akira frowns, stepping up into his personal space until Ryuji felt his back hit one of the desks they used in their very first hideout. 

"Why are you upset with me?" Akira asks, his voice monotone but demanding. Nervously, Ryuji looks to Akira's shoulder to see if Morgana was there to either save him or chew him out too. Akira notices this glance. "He's taking a walk, its just the two of us here. Now answer me. 

"Uh, I don't know what you mean." Ryuji looked honestly confused, but he did have an idea of what Akira may be talking about. His heart aches a little as his friend frowns further, actually looking sad, almost. 

"Bullshit. You've been side eyeing me during meetings and holding back your words when we hang out and barely talking to me about anything. You're upset about something, so tell me. Did I do something wrong?" 

Ryuji has to look away from those piercing grey eyes, the intensity a little too much for his heart rate. Akira narrows his eyes and waits for an answer before Ryuji sighs. 

"It's nuthin'. Don't worry about it." He replies dejectedly, doing a terrible job of convincingly making it seem like nothing. 

"Don't give me that. I'll keep you up here all night until you tell me what's up, you know I will." Akira threatens, and he's right. He definitely would do that, probably. 

"I know you would, yeah yeah. It's just, aw hell, it's dumb." Looking at the ground, Ryuji kicks at it with the toe of his sneaker. Akira's stance relaxes, looking less aggressive. 

"Hey, you can tell me anything, Ryuji." Akira's voice is softer, a little more coaxing and gentle like talking to an animal or child. It seems to work on Ryuji though, getting him to relax his shoulders and muscles though he keeps his head bowed. 

"Yeah, I guess so. It's just... I guess, I am a little upset." Ryuji admits, frowning as he says it outloud, making the feeling real. "I'm upset with you. At you. Because of you. I'm sorry." 

"What did I do?" Akira asks, and the subtle ounce of hurt in his voice breaks Ryuji's heart into pieces. 

"It's not your fault, it's just me being a jealous piece of shit!" Ryuji lifts his head up to look into those grey eyes again, holding his place there now. "All you do is live your life, and I'm over here being effing jealous, ruining everything like usual." He sniffles a little and finds that his eyes are getting wet. Dammit, Ryuji didn't want to cry in front of Akira, that would be so uncool, not to mention bothersome for him. He wipes the tears off his face with the back of his arm, trying to get a hold of himself. "Sorry, I'm sorry."

"Whoah, heh hey. Slow down. What- why are you jealous? Of what? Why?" Akira looks around Ryuji's face as if searching for the answer himself. The blonde closes his eyes. 

"I'm jealous of you and Makoto and well, everyone else. You can spend as much time with any of them as you want, it's fine. I'm just jealous that you're paying attention to other people, which sounds bad, I know. But for serious, I don't mind if you have a life outside of me. It's good that you do. I get it, I understand. It's just hard to know that I'm just not so important in your life anymore." He cringes internally when he realizes his shoulders were shaking. Akira seems to notice too, placing his hands there to hold him still. 

"Hey, shut up with that." Akira reprimands, making Ryuji look up at his face again with surprise. It was hard to meet that intensely concerned look, yet he couldn't look anywhere else. "Don't think you're not important. You're my-" Akira sucks in a breath, the first sign of hesitation he's shown at all today. "You're my best friend." 

"Am I really?" Ryuji mutters bitterly, and Akira looks taken aback, even hurt. Ashamed, Ryuji diverts his eyes to the ground. 

"Of cours- why would you think you weren't?" Akira tilts his head sadly to the side, hands still resting on Ryuji's shoulders with a firm yet gentle grip. Ryuji shrugs, keeping his head bowed. 

"Ever since you started dating Makoto-" Ryuji's head jerks up as Akira chokes and sputters, clearly flustered. 

"You think I'm dating _Makoto_?" The frizzy haired boy laughs, confusing Ryuji further. 

"A-aren't you...?" 

"No! We're just friends, dude." Akira removes one hand to hold his head as he shakes it in amused disbelief. Ryuji isn't convinced though, glaring. 

"Well maybe you should try telling her that." He crosses his arms and huffs in annoyance. "And stop lying to yourself that you like her, I've seen you two." Akira continues to laugh despite Ryuji's offended glare. 

"Sorry, shit. It's just that I didn't expect this." Akira gets his laughter under control and sighs. "We aren't dating or harboring any hidden feelings." Ryuji raises a disbelieving eyebrow and Akira rubs the back of his neck. "I mean, we _did_ , but we kissed like, once and it was awkward and the feelings just kinda swooshed away." 

Ryuji can't hide his relief, shoulders loosening up and face relaxing from his angry pout. Akira wrinkles his eyebrows, now his turn to look confused. 

"What's with that? What would be wrong with me dating Makoto anyway?" He shifts on his weight, crossing his arms. Ryuji still felt trapped against the desk behind him, despite the casual posture of his friend. 

"Well ehh, it's not just her, I mean she's pretty cool and all, if you'd date anyone I think she'd be probably the best, y'know. You don't know that many other girls, unless you do and I just don't know about it. Did you ever talk to that uh, cute Kosei girl that plays shogi? And Kawakami's kinda old for you but she seems kinda into you, which is pretty weird since she's your teacher and all. And oh, yeah, I guess Ann is a girl too so she could be-" 

"Ryuji." 

"Uh?" 

"You're rambling." 

"Oh shit, sorry man. Guess I'm just feelin' a little nervous is all, heh." Ryuji pulls himself up to sit on the desk behind him, rubbing the back of his neck. Akira tilts his head. 

"It's fine. What're you nervous about? It's just me here." The smile droops slightly off Akira's face. "Do I make you nervous?" 

"What? No! No, that's not it at all. Just the idea of you dating gets me bothered." Ryuji laughs nervously. 

"Why?" Akira leans forward, into Ryuji's space and too close to his face for the blonde's comfort. 

"Uh, c-cuz if you've got a girl, then when are you gonna have time for me?" Ryuji's face flushes and he can't bring himself to meet Akira's eyes. He startles when Akira's hand places on his shoulder. 

"Hey, I've always got time for you." Akira smiles so affectionately that Ryuji honestly feels like he just swooned a little. 

"Oh. Good. And you aren't just sayin' that? Cuz I been real worried about buggin' you too much and bein' annoying and all." Looking down at his lap, Ryuji fiddles with his hands. 

"Don't worry, even if you do annoy me, I'll just tell you." Akira sighs, leaning back and putting his hands in his pockets casually. "Besides, I don't think I'm going to get a girlfriend any time soon." 

"What? C'mon man, don't put yourself down. If it weren't for the rumors about your criminal record, I bet every girl in school would be all over you." 

"You think?" Akira raises his eyebrows, blushing gently. 

"Hell yeah! She'd have to be blind or a lesbian to not fall for you, you're effin' gorgeous!"

"Gorgeous?" Akira's eyebrows rise higher. 

"Well uhh, I mean. Handsome? Hot? Sexy? Attractive? I don't effin' know." Ryuji shrugs and gestures wildly. Akira leans forward, smirking smugly. 

"Sexy?" Ryuji's face turns red. 

"Is what the girls would think! B-but it's not like I don't think you're good looking, you're a hell of a guy! Not that I'm looking in a gay way, but like, if I had to choose, I'd go gay for you, no competition. I mean I haven't thought about this a lot or anything like that, don't get the wrong idea. I'm not-" 

"Ryuji." 

"Yeah?" 

"Rambling." 

"Yeah." 

Awkwardly, Ryuji rubs the back of his neck as Akira fiddled with his hair. It would be fine if Ryuji was the only one feeling a little flustered, but since Akira seemed to be too, it just made the awkwardness more intense. Finally, Akira looks up and drops his hands back into his pockets, shrugging his bag on his shoulder. 

"So..." he starts hesitantly. Ryuji looks up from his lap to see a blank expression on his friend's face. 

"What was that about turning gay for me?" Akira smirks. 

"Man, screw you." Ryuji blushes but grins, punching the other on the arm as they both laugh. It felt good to laugh with Akira. It felt good to do almost anything with Akira really, but it felt best to laugh. He seemed so serious and reserved when they first met, but when Akira first cracked up in front of him, he fell in love. In a friendship way. 

"Ahh, I missed this." Akira sighs, leaning on a stack of desks to the side. When Ryuji looks over at him, he has a small, content smile on his face. _Cute..._

"You know," Akira continues, oblivious to Ryuji's inner turmoil at admitting Akira was cute in his head, "I thought you were mad at me or something. I was scared you hated me. To think it was only jealousy, and over nothing." He shakes his head with a small breathy laugh. 

"You? Scared? Does not compute." Ryuji raises his eyebrows in disbelief. Akira narrows his eyes a bit in annoyance. 

"Right. You could almost mistake me for being a human, should that happen." He is monotone as usual, but with a little bit more edge to it. Ryuji looks down at his feet shamefully. 

"Sorry." He lifts his head back up, looking apologetic. "I didn't mean it like that, it's just surprisin' you'd be scared about somethin' like our relationship." Then he looks down again, fiddling with his fingers, mumbling the next part. "Didn't think it's meant that much.." 

Akira frowns, standing up and blocking Ryuji against the desk again. When the blonde looks up, Akira gets right up in his face. When he leans back in surprise, Akira puts both hands on either side of him against the desk and leans forward with him. 

"Quit thinking so little of yourself." The glasses wearing boy commands with something close to a growl. "You matter, dammit." 

"Heh, okay." Ryuji smiles shakily, trying to keep his cool. "Got it. You can back up now." Akira blinks like he was just realizing that it was weird how close they were. Slowly he stands back up and adjusts his glasses, clearing his throat. 

"Right. Just remember that." He says cooly, though Ryuji can see a hint of color on his friend's face. 

"Yeah, I will." The air between them was awkward again, so Ryuji desperately searches for a new topic. However hard he thinks though, he just can't get how close they were a moment ago out of his head. It felt like a scene from a romance manga or something, and he shuddered to think that he was taking the place of the girl. His mind wanders, thinking about what it would have been like if he had moved forward towards Akira in that moment, would they have kissed? Hell, that would be embarrassing, Ryuji didn't have much (any) experience with kissing! Though, now he wonders... 

"Hey, how many people have you kissed?" Ryuji blurts the question out, surprising Akira out of his thoughts. 

"Three?" He responds quickly, though his confusion is clear. Ryuji leans forward, interested now that Akira seemed more flustered than himself. That and he now had to know who these people were. 

"Counting Makoto? Who else? Anyone I know?" Ryuji's interest seemed to calm Akira's nerves a bit, but he was still kinda confused. 

"No, you wouldn't know them. They're from the city." He sighs, scratching his head. "My first kiss was with this girl uh, shit I don't remember her name. It was before middle school. She had this whole confession thing happening, and I didn't know what was going on. Then she kissed me and I kinda... left." Ryuji snorts, cracking a grin. 

"Left? You mean you just walked away from her?" Akira nods with a grimace. "Stone cold, dude." 

"Shut up, I didn't know what to do, I panicked. I was freaking 10, dude. Plus I didn't even know her that well in the first place. Stop laughing." Akira tries to remain serious, but Ryuji's laughter has him cracking up too. 

"Okay okay, what about the next one, what was that like?" Ryuji asks as he calms down his giggles. Akira takes a deep breath to calm himself as well, chuckles continuing only for a little bit as he talked. 

"Right. My next kiss was with a friend of mine, about uh, two years ago? Basically we just made out awkwardly for a while just to see what it was like, but then he got a girlfriend and-" 

If Ryuji were drinking something, he would have spit it out for sure. As is, he just spits out his breathe, making a sound like a balloon losing air very quickly. 

" _HE_??!" He leaned forward so far he nearly fell off the desk. His hands gripped the sides tight enough to stabilize him. "You kissed a _guy_? Shit, you _made out_ with a guy?!" Ryuji's surprise at this reminds Akira of just how painfully straight his simpleminded friend is, and he flushes a bit and crosses his arms defensively. 

"Seriously? You didn't know I was bi?" Ryuji just stares at him, dumbfounded. "I like girls _and_ guys, Ryuji." 

"Buh- wha- when have you ever shown interest in a guy! Name one!" Ryuji counters, and Akira responds standing up straight and tall and overbearingly confident with his arms at his sides and hands clenched into fists. 

"You." 

Ryuji gapes, speechless. Akira holds his confident stand to look down at his friend, but slowly crumbles. This wasn't a shadow in the Metaverse that if anything should go wrong in conversation, he would still have the upper hand. No, here in the real world, he may seem to be on top, but he was really the one cowering under the gaze of his friend. 

He neither of them speak, though Ryuji makes odd choking noises as his mouth closes and opens as if searching for the words. Akira keeps his breathing even, but his heart rate refuses to go down. Finally, with barely a whisper, Ryuji says, 

"For real...?" 

Akira swallows, similarly mute like his friend was a moment ago. The confident leader flinches when laughter bubbled up out of Ryuji. 

"Good one, dude! Good joke, you sure got me again! Sheesh, I should get used to you saying this sort of thing just to rile me up, but I fall for it every time." Ryuji continues to laugh, forcing it to sound amused when he really felt freaked the hell out. Akira deflates, laughing uneasily. 

"Ha ha, yeah..." as hard as he tries, Akira can't keep the smile on his face, and neither can Ryuji. When the blonde looks up at his friend and sees his heartbroken expression, he feels as if his body just falls apart, crumbling like a flimsy cookie. 

"... All those times you teased me and acted like you were flirting, you were being serious, weren't you?" Ryuji quietly asks after oppressive silence takes over the space between them. Akira doesn't meet his eyes when he nods. Ryuji sighs in exasperation, holding his face in his hands and then lets out a regret filled groan. "I'm such a dumbass." 

"I _was_ teasing, a little. But really I just used that as a fallback when you predictably dodged my advances." Akira shrugs carelessly, keeping his arms folded tightly over his chest and his back hunched, closed off body language. 

"Dammit..." Ryuji mutters, shoving the heels of his hands into his eyes in anger at himself.

"I'm sorry, you're uncomfortable. I'll uh, I'll go." Akira turns and starts to quick walk away before he is frozen by Ryuji's voice. 

"Akira Kurusu I swear to god if you leave me here on this roof alone I'll- I'll... I will be very very mad!" Ryuji loses his fire as he loses his words, but Akira's shoulders jump a couple times as he chuckles silently. He turns to look at Ryuji and his grey eyes are piercing yet soft, in a strange way. 

"You're such a dork." Akira says affectionately, a sad smile on his face. Ryuji counters that smile with an uneasy grin. 

"You know, if you think this is gonna change how you're my best effing friend, you're dumber than that potted plant in your room. You know you're always gonna be the best thing to ever happen to me in this shitty school. Hell, in my entire shitty life, you're the best part of it. I ain't gonna let something dumb like this take you away that easily." 

Akira closes his eyes and breathes in and back out slowly, relaxing as his smile becomes real. He walks back over to his friend, stopping further away from him than where he was standing before. Ryuji smiles at him with that soft glow about his face, and sighs in a happy way. Decisively, Akira steps forward again to close the distance between them, yet keeps a decent enough space between them still. 

"I'm going to hug you now." He declares, waiting for Ryuji to nod before he wraps his arms around the other's shoulders. Ryuji gratefully sighs into the hug and tugs Akira closer with arms around his waist. They stand on that quiet roof with their bodies pressed against each other, listening to the sounds of the city beyond their little bubble. When they finally part, Akira steps backwards and tugs on a front bit of his hair. Ryuji thinks he sees a shy looking smile on his face, but he probably just imagined it. 

"Lets go out for some ramen or something, what'd'ya say?" Ryuji says as he hops off the desk, grinning and slapping Akira on the arm goodnatured. The black haired boy smirks, tilting his head. 

"Your treat?" He asks with a teasing lilt to his voice. 

"Yeah! Wait what? I mean, no! I don't have that kinda money, dude!" Ryuji agrees too readily, then waves his arms frantically in front of him to take it back as Akira laughs. 

Ryuji ends up paying for the both of them, but the noodles have never tasted better.

**Author's Note:**

> They didn't get together ~~yet~~ but who knows what might happen if I decide to continue. Anyways, if you liked it leave a kudos and comments are always the best things ever. Now to work on _any of my other got damn fics before starting a new one jfc_


End file.
